Five For Friday

I must confess, I’ve been feeling a ‘little’ ‘amazed’ lately even though it’s still January (see my recent rant on January) and still winter and I’ve been recovering from back to back illnesses the last two weeks. I’m prepared to slap winter with my flip-flop and tell it to move on already. But in keeping with the overall positive outlook I try to embrace by looking on the “Sunny side” of things, allow me to expound on the use of this oxymoron of being a ‘little’ ‘amazed’ by some small things that have recently occurred which have had a big impact.

MOOD LIFTER

It was just a little too sad and the house was just a little too plain with the Christmas decorations having been taken down recently, so I decided to forget about my sworn statement to wait until February to decorate for Valentine’s Day, and I stepped out to see what I could buy for under $15 to lighten my spirits and brighten up the walls in my home. Here’s what I came up with…

Friends, this little display in my kitchen is SUCH A MOOD LIFTER. It’s a combination of items I found at Target and the Dollar Store, plus a few things I already had. Special thanks to MH and EH for the left-over wine bottle from Small Plate Saturday. The Dollar Store provided the red glitter heart, gold LOVE fixture, red candles, bear shelf sitter, and pink vase. Target had the beautiful pink floral spray and the hearts laundry line (which actually has little clothes pins on the back of each heart to hang pictures). I already had the glass candle holders, and the shelves and clock are permanent fixtures on the wall. So, I am a ‘little’ ‘amazed’ about how happy I feel from my little Valentine’s Day display.

GOOD CLEAN FUN

I’m always up for a great cleaning hack because…housework. Ugh. Can I get an “Amen” to the fact that cleaning the tub/shower it just about the most complicated and tiring chore ever? The effort, the smell of harsh chemicals, the time it takes are a combination worthy of avoiding this task for days upon days. I’ve been seeing one cleaning hack that’s been going around on Facebook or Pinterest where you can clean your tub or shower with just two supplies – a clean nylon broom and some Dawn dish soap. Here’s a great link with pictures and instructions:

I was skeptical to be sure, but extremely curious – so I made another trip to the Dollar Store and paid my two dollars plus tax for my supplies and ran straight to my shower to conduct this experiment. Friends, THIS WORKED LIKE A CHARM! And it’s a ton of FUN too! And it smells great! And for days afterward the tub and shower walls are still shiny and clean. Color me just a ‘little’ ‘amazed’ again. You’re going to be thanking me FOREVER with this tip.

LENTIL PASTA? SAY IT AIN’T SO!

Since I’ve been eating healthier I admit that I really miss pasta with red sauce and meatballs. I’ve been trying so hard to find a healthy version that coincides with my Nutritarian lifestyle, but so far it’s been disappointing. I submit to you this picture…

It’s a mushroom meatball with red sauce recipe over green lentil pasta, and it tasted very HEALTHY which is a code word in our home to mean it was not very tasty at all. But, to my great surprise the green lentil pasta I purchased for this dish

was remarkably good, and the macaroni had that ‘pasta feel’ to it that I missed from my days of making red sauce and macaroni a couple of times of month with real spaghetti pasta. Feeling a ‘little’ ‘amazed’ once more, and I’m planning to purchase this gem again.

LOST AND FOUND

Every so often I get a little nostalgic for some of my favorite music from the past and a few years ago I tried looking for a Christian worship CD that I always played on repeat while doing chores around the house. Playing it gave me a lift and brightened my spirits. I’ve been looking for a very long time but I never found it. Ironically, I finally found the CD in question while I was putting away the Christmas decorations this year, checking each of my Christmas CD cases to make sure the right discs were in the right cases when I came across a Christmas CD I did not play this season but checked anyway, and hidden inside was this…

Worship Again by Michael W Smith is probably my all time favorite Christian Music CD. I can listen to it on repeat play for hours. If you walk by my house you might hear me belting out the words to “You Are Holy (Prince of Peace)” or “Forever We Will Sing”. Believe me when I tell you I looked everywhere for this CD and when it turned up inside an old Christmas CD this year, well, you had to have seen this coming, wait for it…WHAT A GIFT! And I was a ‘little’ ‘amazed’ too – so happy to have these tunes back in my home.

MAN CAVE BUSINESS

Maybe not the most amazing thing to happen recently, but certainly a fun one, was the fact that I came across this item at a flooring store near my home:

It was the first thing I saw as I entered the store and my son immediately popped into my mind. My thirty year old kiddo has been a diehard Buffalo Bills fan all his life, and let’s just say when they made it to the playoffs recently, we all were not just a little amazed, but PHENOMENALLY AMAZED! I snapped a picture and text messaged him that he needs to get this rug for a future man cave, and I got a big thumbs up in response.

After reading my January rant blog post, two dear friends recently commented about their love of January and after recovering from my shock that there might actually be January lovers in the world, it got me thinking that there are always things to appreciate and to be grateful for even when they are not readily apparent. Things on the surface are not always what are manifest underneath, but we won’t ever see them unless we look with “Blessing Lenses” or with eyes to see the joy that can come from ordinary or even painful experiences or circumstances in our lives. While I’m not suggesting a ‘Pollyanna’ view on life, it can serve us well to see more of the good and be a ‘little’ ‘amazed’ about things from time to time.